6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A Major League rookie pitcher loses control over his pitching and is sent down to the minor leagues, where he begins sessions with an unorthodox sports psychologist. In the process, hidden conflicts with his overbearing father are brought to light.
Starring: Johnny Simmons, Paul Giamatti, Ethan Hawke, Paul Adelstein, Elizabeth MarvelSport | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Family | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The recurring musical motif is from Mozart rather than Pachelbel, but The Phenom treads the same therapeutic ground as Robert Redford's 1980 Oscar winner, Ordinary People. Both films deal with a psychiatrist's timely intervention in the life of a young person in crisis, but writer/director Noah Buschel focuses on a pitching prodigy whose gifts are blocked by dysfunctional family relationships. Baseball aside (and The Phenom is only superficially a baseball film), the hotshot is just one more troubled kid.
Shot on Red by Ryan Samul (Cold in July), The Phenom arrives from Image Entertainment on a 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray with a problematic image. Brightly lit scenes (or portions of scenes) display the usual virtues of digital capture: sharply detailed and noiseless, with solid blacks and bright primary colors typical of sports films. In darker scenes (or portions of the frame), the image too often displays the shifting patterns of digital color noise. These do not appear to be compression-related, since the average bitrate of 22.99 Mbps should be adequate for digitally originated material. Whether they are a byproduct of the original photography (or the DI) or a mastering issue, they're a distraction in a film that holds its shots at length.
The Phenom's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack has an odd mix. Some elements are overamplified (e.g., the Mozart sonata over the opening titles, where the volume gradually increases to an unpleasant level), while others are too quiet. The dialogue is sometimes buried by sound effects that have been heightened for effect (such as a siren), but this appears to be a deliberate choice by the filmmakers. The non-Mozart music was composed by Aleks de Carvalho.
The cast has impressive credentials, but The Phenom fails as both a sports film and a
psychological drama. Anomalies in image and sound appear to result from directorial choices.
Not recommended.
2006
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1984
15th Anniversary Edition | Director's Cut | Includes Theatrical Cut DVD
1999
30th Anniversary Edition
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Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
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